Wednesday 2 February 2005

By Maria Ahmed and Derren Hayes

CPS to ignore victim’s wishes

New guidance for prosecuting cases of domestic violence will
warn victims that they many sometimes be called to give evidence
against their wishes.

The guidance, launched today by the Crown Prosecution Service, says
that such decisions will be taken only by an experienced prosecutor
after consultation with the police.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 2

Teen drink tactic

A report on teenage drinking for the Joseph Rowntree Trust
published today suggests creating a network of special premises to
help underage drinkers manage their alcohol consumption.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 February 2005 page 5

Unions threaten Blair attempt to keep party
united

Tony Blair’s efforts to keep the Labour party united for
May’s probable election began to unravel yesterday as the
trade unions including T & G and Unison shattered a fragile
truce by announcing a strike ballot of hundreds of thousands of
public sector workers. Union officials involved are predicting an
overwhelming vote in favour of action.

Source:- The Financial Times Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 3

Schools to get help with bad behaviour

Groups of schools are to be given funding and responsibility to
tackle disruptive pupils by jointly buying in expert help.

Ruth Kelly, education secretary, used a speech in Blackpool
yesterday to pledge “zero tolerance” of bad behaviour
in schools.

Source:- The Financial Times Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 4

Government attacked for ‘hypocritical’
attitude to Freedom of Information Act

Minister’s promises to usher in a new age of freedom of
information has failed to materialise, with scores of requests to
open the government to public scrutiny being rejected.

About 4,000 requests have been received across central government
but MPs and journalists claim the government has breached its own
legislation by failing to meet the Freedom of Information
Act’s statutory deadline.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 2 February 2005 page
2

Disability benefit cut but those who go back to work
will get bonus

The government will announce the biggest shake-up to benefits
for the sick and disabled for 60 years today by removing the
financial incentive for people to remain on incapacity
benefit.

Alan Johnson, the secretary of state for work and pensions, will
publish a five-year welfare plan to restrict the level of benefit,
which is paid to 2.7 million people at a cost of £6.7 billion
a year.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 2 February 2005 page
19

Straitjacket may be brought back into the
NHS

The straitkjacket, the restraining garment that came to
symbolise the harsh treatment of mental health patients, may
return, with the NHS considering its reintroduction in a modern
form.

Some members of an influential government group looking into how to
manage violent and aggressive patients have been in talks with US
firm that manufactures and sells restraints.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page 3
and Society Guardian pages 2-3

More parents teach their children at home

Bullying is said to be the main concern of families who are
opting out of mainstream education

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page
5

Father wins benefits appeal

A rule which means separated fathers can claim no benefits for
their child even if they share almost equal care is
“grotesque” and “degrading” and brings the
law into disrepute, according to an appeal court ruling.

The judgement, by Lord Justice Ward, came after Eugen Hockenjos, a
father from north London, who shares care of his two children,
challenged the department for work and pensions over the rule that
child-related benefits can be paid to only one parents after a
split.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page 6
and Society Guardian page 9

Minder gets three years for baby death

A child-minder who shook a five-month baby to death out of
“frustration and exasperation” because he would not go
to sleep, was yesterday jailed for three years for
manslaughter.

Rebecca Wilson from Bolton was found guilty at Liverpool Crown
Court of shaking Anil Joshi on 8 January 2003, while his parents
were at work.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page
7

Connexions may be replaced

Connexions, the careers and guidance service for young people
set up less than four years ago and costing more than £450
million a year, is facing the axe in its current form under reforms
to be published next month in the government’s youth green
paper on March 10.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page 11

The death of Gareth Price shames us all

Incarceration will not stop youth crime, it is a measure of our
failure, says David Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of
prisons

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005 page
26

Inside track on jail survival

Ex-offender Andy Evans publishes website for the not-so-old
lags

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 4

Hard times in Notting Hill

The Other Notting Hill, a new book, charts the history of a
trust set up to help poor tenants

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 4

Command performance

Sir Ian Blair, London’s new chief of police talks about
balancing racial harmony and public safety

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 6-7

Walls of silence

In the macho world of prisons, victims of sexual abuse are
reluctant to ‘show weakness’ by talking about their
torment. But now a former psychiatric nurse has devised a safe way
to seek help.

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 8

Age shall not weary him…

Sir Derek Wanless on how he aims to put care of older people
high on the political agenda

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 2 February 2005
page 10

Scottish newspapers

Eight years on, sick list still used to conceal unemployment
level

More than two-thirds of Scottish people deemed too sick to work
in the last year have come straight off the jobless register.

Of the 82,600 people who joined Scotland’s army of incapacity
benefit claimants last year, 55,200 had previously been registered
unemployed.

The figures undermine Labour’s claims to have stopped using
the list to conceal unemployment.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 2 February

Blair to curb incapacity benefits and push people into
work

Labour will outline a five-year plan for the welfare state aimed
at driving people off benefits and back to work.

Tony Blair set the tone yesterday with a speech in Manchester where
he promised to end rules that mean people claiming incapacity
benefit get more money the longer they spend on the sick-list.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 2 February

Priory boss denies care home failures

The head of the Priory chain of rehabilitation clinics ran a
care home that mistreated older people, the General Medical Council
has heard.

Dr Chai Patel, who faces being struck off if found guilty of
serious professional misconduct, is accused of failing to
“safeguard the health, safety and welfare” of residents at Lynde
House, Twickenham, in his role as chief executive of the
home’s owner, Westminster Healthcare.

Dr Patel is accused of failing to investigate claims in a letter
sent to him that residents at the home were left drenched in their
own urine and that general standards of care were poor.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 2 February

Scots children who go straight from school to
nowhere

Two of every five children to leave some of Glasgow’s
schools are unable to find a job, new figures show.

Some commentators say the figures highlight a huge cultural
challenge for Scotland – how to break the cycle of
joblessness and dependency in some of the country’s most
deprived areas.

Some believe the jobs are there but say the responsibility lies
with schools to train and engage children more effectively during
their education so they want to get into the workplace.

Source:- The Herald Wednesday 2 February

 

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